1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having an integrated circuit or a discrete element, for example, a method of manufacturing the same, as well as a manufacturing system and semiconductor equipment to which the manufacturing method applied.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 27 is a conceptual diagram showing a conventional manufacturing system MSa. The manufacturing system MSa manufactures at least one semiconductor device DVa from a semiconductor substrate W.
The manufacturing system MSa includes n semiconductor equipment PAa, a control unit CAa and a database DBa. Unique numbers from No. 1 to No. n are assigned to the semiconductor equipment PAa respectively.
Operations of the conventional manufacturing system MSa are now described. The control unit CAa controls each semiconductor equipment PAa, to make the semiconductor equipment PAa process the semiconductor substrate W in order shown in FIG. 28, for example. The database DBa previously stores this order.
If it turns out that large foreign matter adheres to the semiconductor substrate W processed by the third semiconductor equipment PAa in FIG. 28, the database DBa stores this information. If it thereafter turns out from the information stored in the database DBa that the third semiconductor equipment PAa has caused the large foreign matter, the third semiconductor equipment PAa is inspected, not to cause large foreign matter. Alternatively, operations of the third semiconductor equipment PAa are corrected as described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open Gazette No. 10-233374 (1998), for example.
In general, however, the semiconductor substrate W processed by the third semiconductor equipment PAa shown in FIG. 28 is processed by the first, second, . . . semiconductor equipment PAa along the order stored in the database DBa in the state having the large foreign matter adhering thereto, to form the semiconductor device DVa. Thus, the yield of the semiconductor device DVa is disadvantageously reduced due to the large foreign matter.